41 Hours in Tokyo: Park Hyatt Tokyo

My second night in Tokyo was at the Park Hyatt, located at the top of Shinjuku Park Tower. I had heard great things about the properties from friends and was really looking forward to it. I was not to be disappointed.

I had used one of the free suite nights I received from my signup for the Hyatt Visa Card. Gary Leff of View From The Wing wrote about the Hyatt Visa card recently. And, while he generally prefers the Chase Sapphire Card, I do think the Hyatt has a reasonable place in certain traveler’s wallets. I originally carried it for the 3x points on all Hyatt spend plus the 2 free nights in a suite that I got for signing up, and I got a ton of value out of my free suite night in the Park Hyatt Tokyo.

For starters, the rate at the Park Hyatt that night was about 50,000 YEN ($600-ish). So, to get that night for free was pretty cool.

But, this property started paying dividends before I even got there. While I was walking with Charlie to Imperial Gardens, I mentioned to him that I was considering going to a baseball game at the Tokyo Dome (more on that experience later). He thought it would be a good idea, but neither of us spoke Japanese and we needed to figure out how to get tickets.

Park Hyatt to the rescue! A quick call to the concierge, and they were working on getting me two tickets. While I was on the phone with them they asked if I would be checking in early. I told them I would probably bring my bags over later in the morning (it’s 7:30am at this point) but I didn’t expect to have a room until later that afternoon. The person I spoke with assured me they could have my room ready within about an hour. Wow!

I arrived at the fairly nondescript entrance carrying a backpack and a very small carryon. Two people (yes, two) took my bags and escorted me to an elevator which whisked us to the 41st floor where the reception area is.

We walked past the restaurant and through a well appointed library into the reception area.

From there, two ladies from reception took my bags from the bellman and escorted me to the elevator. I felt a bit embarrassed that the women were carrying my bags so I wrestled them out of their hands in the most chivalrous way possible. Check-in would take place in my room, which is just a super cool way to check into a hotel. Registration was very quick and painless. While sitting in my room, my concierge handed me two baseball tickets for that evening and also asked me if she could assist booking a return train ticket. They made everything about the stay so effortless.

Another cool thing about the property is that they still use actual keys.

Even though I was receiving points as my Diamond amenity for my stay, the GM was still nice enough to leave a nice note along with a tasty snack. I couldn’t identify what was in the box, but they were long sticks of something that tasted like pistachio dipped in chocolate. Yummy!

The room itself was also quite spectacular. First, a very comfortable living room with a great view of Tokyo.

A wonderfully appointed bathroom that was almost as large as some hotel rooms I’ve stayed in.

The bedroom was located between the living room and bathroom. Spacious and minimalist, I found the bed quite comfortable.

And, how can you beat fresh squeezed juice in the minibar?

There were quite a few little touches along the way that made the stay feel even more special. At night, turndown service included making sure I had a clean glass and a bottle of water beside my nightstand.

I ordered room service breakfast since I was leaving for the train before the breakfast restaurant opened up. Diamond members get free breakfast, and I was told to order whatever I wanted off the menu. I asked for strawberry jelly with my toast, and, as you can see from the picture, they made sure I didn’t run out.

While I was checking out, I asked the front desk if newspapers had arrived yet. Since I was departing early, I assumed they had not. By the time I got downstairs to the lobby, a bellman had 2 different newspapers in hand for me.

The level of service that I received from the property was perfect in every way. I’ve never felt more at home during a stay than this one. The room was splendid, and the service the staff provided was impeccable. There’s no question I would make the Park Hyatt Tokyo my first choice when returning.

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My goal in life is to fill my family’s passports with stamps, creating buckets of memories along the way. You’ll find me writing about realistic ways for normal people to travel the world, whether you’re on a budget or enjoy luxury. I also enjoy taking us on the occasional detour to explore the inner workings of the travel industry.

You’ll definitely enjoy your stay. I did pay for the tickets, charged to my room. But, the concierge e-mailed me a seat map and let me know the various areas where tickets were available and made the process seamless. They didn’t have access to tickets at the hotel, so they charged me a very nominal $20 fee to have someone run and get tickets. For the convenience of having someone help me select seats and have them delivered to my room when I was having trouble communicating, this was by far one of the best deals of my trip.

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